Walter & Meg

Meg and I are submitting on Monday, May 13, 2013 to CSC.

We are sending Priority Mail, Certified, w/delivery confirmation, any recommendations ?

We are also sending a personal check drawn from our bank with both of our names on the check.

We would like to join the group and track the progress of this process.

Comments welcome.

Walter & Meg

I was just wondering, does anyone in this group that had their green card approved go to USCIS and also have their foriegn passport stamped with a green card approval stamp, or is that something that the USCIS has done in the past ??

A direct answer would be appreciated, and with someone that has received their green card.

Thank you, ans good fortune to everyone in the group !

From the USCIS web site:

Q : What is the National Benefits Center?

The National Benefits Center was originally created as the Missouri Service

Center (MSC), which was set up to process applications associated with the LIFE

Act. On April 16, 2003, USCIS Director Aguirre approved the transition of the

Missouri Service Center (MSC) into the National Benefits Center (NBC), which

greatly expanded the scope of the Center’s operations. The NBC was primarily

established to serve as the hub and conduit for all USCIS field offices by

completing pre-interview processing of Forms generally requiring an interview.

However, evidence of our origin remains, as all Forms receipted by the NBC still

bear the receipt number prefix of “MSC.”

I changed our display name from wbuchko to Walter & Meg.

Also, how long does it take for someone to have their Biometrics captured at a Application Support Center.

Thank You !

Received hardcopy NOA1 for I-485 & I-765 - Notice date 05.04.2011;

Biometrics 05.26.2011, 9 AM - Denver;

We will just keep the appointment given to us;

We think things are going smoothly.

mailed I-485 & I-765 04.26 from Denver, Chicago rec'd 04.28, but only 05.05 rec'd 2 texts and 2 e-mails, also check cashed 05.05, Meg and I are extremely happy !

where do you live in the Philippines ?

Meg actually went to the main office of 2GO in Cagayan De Oro, and retrieved her package from there. At the time, she did not have identification with her, but the cleck noticed that she was wearing her college ring. He asked to see the ring, and Meg's name was inside the ring. He was then able to give her the package.

My suggestion to you is to find out where the main office of 2GO is in your area. Go there and see if your package is there. If that is not feasible go to the nearest office of 2GO, and start your shearch from there.

That is the best I can think of.

Hope this helps.

My Fiancee was approved on Jan 25, Visa printed on Jan 27, and received her visa at a 2GO office on Feb 2, She lives in Cagayan de Oro, Mindanao. We were lucky.

I think it varies on when they do printing and how soon 2GO gets it to you.

Yes call the Embassy at tat number.

Good luck !

Bulon,

I had that exact same plan when Meg would arrive here maybe in March, but quickly changed my plans upon visiting the local social security office here in Arvada, Colorado. What they told me is that if you get married before you get your social security card, you will lose your K-1 status, and you will have to wait 8 months until your AOS is complete. I know it sounds silly, but every Social Security office in every state interperts the parameters for this rule differently.

I would do some leg work before you plan your wedding in Las vegas and make sure you will be able to get your SSAN as soon as you get married. I would not advise you on getting married before you secure your social security card, you can do it but you may have to wait to get your SSAN.

By the way, Meg passed her interview yesterday, and we plan on her arriving in Las Vegas in mid March. We will wait 2 weeks and get her social security card, then fly to Vegas to get married.

Br Good, and Good Luck !

The $820 price I found was with China airlines. If you fly into LAX they have a arrival at about 1130am so you have plenty of time to get east bound flights and there isnt a long layover in Tapei. Cost $645 w taxes.

From there she goes into Denver then Kansas City for $174 or directly to KC for another $65.00.

All of these prices I found. I havent booked because her visa was just approved on the 18th. I prefer to go to the Airlines website directly. Remember travel websites dont all have access to every airlines booking so you could be missing out on a better flight with lower cost. I flew China airlines in May and found them to be wonderful. Good food, courtious attendants, personal TV with free on demand movie library. I have no complaints.

Are citizens in the US allowed to book flights for a Filipina in the Philippines. I read somewhere where we could not book a one way ticket out of Manila to the United States. I could be wrong, or maybe it was something I read on Philippine Airline Website. So, can we book the flight and pay with a credit card here in the United States for our Filipina to come here ?

Wow, $820 is not bad, what airline is Sheena taking, I had Meg do a price quote last week from PAL from CDO to Las Vegas thru Vancouver, and they want P47,000+, or $1100.+.

This seemed high to me. Meg is doing her physical tomorrow and her interview next week.

Let me know what airline you are using, did Sheena make the reservation or did you ?

Thanks

Thank you, for all your replies, I very much appreciate your opinions as you have been through this before. What is your reply when they ask you if you have x-ray before ? Should Meg just tell them that she had x-ray before, but could not locate it to bring with her to SLMCEC ?

I only wanted Meg to bring it because it is available to us, and I have tried to conform always to what is asked of us from SLMCEC and USEM. But if you think it would be better to leave at home for convenience sake, then I will listen to your advice. It is a big envelope, and it will mean that Meg will have something else to carry besides her carry-on. Meg is flying in from CDO on Monday. Thank you so much !

The misspelling of Meg's name appears on an x-ray that was taken at a doctor's office during a check-up that Meg had in 2009, not at SLMCEC. They say in SLMCEC that if you have an existing x-ray, that you should bring it so they can compare it to the one that they will take during your physical. Since she is flying from Mindanao, and does not have 3 days extra, we will not bring the old x-ray.

Meg will be taking her physical at SLMCEC on Tuesday and will be bringing an x-ray that she had taken during a previous check up in 2009. The only problem is that her first name on the x-ray is spelled ‘Meglicina’, and her name everywhere else is spelled ‘Meglecina’, which is the correct way to spell her first name. Will this raise any red flags during the SLMCEC the next day, or US Embassy Interview process a week later? We don't want something so simple to derail all the effort that we put into this. Maybe we should not even use the existing x-ray. Comments please. Thanks for the advice.

Hi I have a question, my parents already has an interview schedule and I've read here you need to fill this form in this website: http://www.ustraveldocs.com/ph/ScheduleanAppointment.html

To enter document delivery address. Do they have to do this before they go to their medical? They haven't got any schedule for medical but we are planning to have them fly 2 weeks from now to have their medical at St Lukes.

Now, I have my parents try to enter their info on that website to put their delivery address since they already have the interview schedule but we can't seem to proceed. It always gets stuck on the Application Validity Page, it won't accept the password we put on there. What gives?

Anyone having the same problem? Or is it just us? When we put in a password it will give us this red asterisk (invalid message):

Anyone who could shed some light for us, we really appreciate it.

Why don't you try going thru a customer service rep. at the call center. I rescheduled my fiancee's interview that way, and it was so easy.

Doing some last minute reviewing, of all paperwork I had concerning this K-1 Process. In her Interview at the US Embassy, does Meg need a local police clearance from her current place of residence, I guess barangay level to city level, or is the NBI Clearance enough ? She has never lived away from Cagayan de Oro on Mindanao since she was 16. I just came accross a post that suggests this. Thank you for any help.

Meg will be going for her physical at SLMCEC on January 18th and 19th. She has a chest x-ray that was taken in 2009. I was wondering if she should bring this x-ray with her to her physical, or just rely on the chest x-ray they give at SLMCEC ? They say somewhere in the instructions that if you have a prior x-ray you should bring it with you. Is it just opening a can of worms ?

i paid 9,600.75 pesos on dec 29th. i dnt knw if it is fixed but bring 10,000 pesos just to be safe just like what i did. dnt go on mondays.jam packed.

Thank You All, Meg had to reschedule her medical because of it being that time of the month, so we made everything a week later. It is very easy to reschedule your interview appointment in this new system. She is scheduled on Jan 25 for her Interview, and 18 & 19th for her physical.

From someone who has taken their physical at St Lukes Medical Center Extension Clinic in Ermita recently, I would like to know exactly how much they paid in Pesos for the medical exam. I know that it is $213.35 in dollars for an adult, but I was wondering how much it is in Pesos. Is it a fixed amount, or does the price fluctuatedaily ? Meg will travel to Manila on Jan. 10 and take the physical on Jan. 11 & 12, and I want to know how much she should bring to SLMCEC in Pesos. Thank you for and help you can give us.

Just a note, the system does work if you are patient enough to let it work.

Yesterday Meg received her notification letter from USEM to make her appointment for her interview.

It is dated December 3, and she received it on December 9.

Our NOA2 Notice Date was October 28, 2010, and our Letter from NVC was dated November 3, 2010.

To me it seemed that USEM scaled back their participation in K-1 production the last 10 days of November to get ready for their transition to the new system.

When I called the Immigrant Section of the Embassy to ask if my file was entered into the system on November 12, she sais it was not, but the electronic file was there, the woman also said that the embassy was aware of the problems that were ahead, and were willing to extend the NOA2 time period of four months if the cases required it. They would be very lenient in that respect.

Meg paid her MRV Fee on December 6, and I made her appointment 9 hours later.

Patience People !

Medical we plan to do on the 11 & 12 of January, Meg has to travel up from Mindanao, so she will do that all in one trip. Be good !

Idaho,

Are CC statements not really needed ?

I have almost no savings because of a divorce that I had to deal with earlier in the year.

That scares me a little.

But my salary and investments are in extremely good shape.

Still you think I should leave the CC Statements out ?

Thanks

Well despite all the horror stories, I was able to secure an Interview appointment. I am grateful that the new system went smoothly, because contacting the Call Center does take hours of waiting on the phone. I placed a call to the call center when I started, and was answered about 2 hours later. The e-mail and live chat that USEM offers is not working yet, but it is a good idea for the future.

Meg paid her MRV Fee on Monday Dec 6 at 9 AM Philippine time, (6 PM Sunday night where I am), she immediately PDFed me the receipt, and I went online on the Immigrant site 9 hours later, (at 3 AM my time). I think the later you call, the less congestion there is on the USEM system. When I looked at Dec, there were only about 5 days available, there was an arrow in the upper right hand corner to go to the month of Jan 2011. I clicked on the arrow, and noticed that Jan 18 was the first available day in January. For all the trouble everyone is having, there are sure a lot of days gone. If you want anything in Dec. I would advise you to do it very soon.

So we were able to get the date of our choice, but still it was pretty stressful. Next, I will get out all the papers that Meg will need for her interview, which stands at 201 pages right now, I think I am a little heavy in the Evidence of Support area. I would really like to blank out the first seven digits of my social security number on my income tax forms and my W2’s but it makes the documents look altered and unprofessional. The same thing with my Credit Card Statements. I am thinking of leaving out the Credit card Statements all together.

I bought a 7 pocket envelope and arranged all the papers in there with a list on the front for easy retrieval. I expect to get all that out by Wednesday my time, 3.25 lbs, $128.15 FEDEX Priority. They told me at FEDEX that it will take 5 business days to get there. Thanks to all the advice of the Group.

BB & MJ,

Good news about your fiancee’s medical exam, you have only one hurdle to go and that is almost like icing on the cake, compared to what has to be done to get to the point that you are at.

Seriously though, I think you have nothing to worry about not having a copy of your Fiancee’s passport to show to the guard at the entrance of USEM. We all are so jaded by this system that we have been put through, that we always try to think one step beyond. I have never read anything about the beneficiary having a copy of their passport to show to the guard. Please try not to worry, you have a whole packet of paper saying that your Fiancee and you are who you say you are, including the DS-156 Form with a picture on it. So with a government (Philippine) valid ID, and the Appointment Letter from USEM, you should be more than good to go.

Rather than worry, enjoy your time together before the Interview.

Idaho_and_surigao,

Thank you for being so patient, I am concerned because you cannot make an appointment.

I am sending to Meg tomorrow, so she can pay BPI early next week, and I can get into the game.

Thank you for all the info.

Stay Good !